Road Trip
by White Tigress in the Moonlight
Summary: Danny, Sam, and Tucker are going to the beach for a week. The only bad thing? It's a fourteen hour drive. Good thing Danny and Sam have lots of interesting things to talk about. AU no Phantom Planet.


Okay, so I haven't uploaded anything in over a year and I desperately needed to. This is my first shot at a Danny Phantom fanfiction, but I absolutely love the show, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

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><p>Danny Fenton rolled his eyes as he was hit with another yawn. He glanced down at the clock on the radio of the car and saw three fifty-seven A.M. staring back at him in bold numbers. He sighed, almost six hours down, just another eight to go.<p>

He and his two best friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, were driving from their home of Amity Park to a beach house their parents had rented for them as a graduation present. They were shocked when they received the wonderful gift; even more so when they were told they were going to be staying by themselves. They had immediately set off to pack their bags, ecstatic and anxious to go.

Danny was still extremely excited, but they had left at ten o'clock that night (their parents had tried to reason with them that leaving early in the morning would be better, but they were too stubborn to listen) in order to get to the beach house about noon the next day. It was a last minute plan, which was why they were leaving at ten o'clock instead of a more reasonable time. They had simply been talking on the phone and discussing when to leave (as soon as it was light enough to see) and where to meet up (Danny's house) and what vehicle to take (Sam's Lexus) and who would drive (they would take shifts) when all the sudden Sam started yelling into the phone.

"I am so excited! I can hardly wait!" Once that was said, the idea was hatched.

"Why don't we just leave now then, Sam?" Tucker had said. It was meant to be sarcastic, but it didn't take more than three seconds for identical grins to spread across all three teens' faces.

"Meet you at your house in ten, Danny!" Sam had yelled, slamming down the phone.

"See you in a few, dude," Tucker had said with a laugh.

True to her word, Sam showed up exactly ten minutes later. She had driven her car over and her parents had followed in their own vehicle. Tucker and his parents showed up just after Sam did. The three teens said their goodbyes to their parents and thanked them again for the wonderful graduation present before piling into Sam's car and driving off.

That was six hours before, which meant they weren't even halfway through their drive. Danny didn't mind driving, he really enjoyed it, actually (though, not as much as flying), but he wished one of the other two would switch with him. He was beginning to get tired and he didn't feel like driving the whole way.

However, one look at his friends told him it might just be that way.

Tucker was sprawled out across the backseat, his PDA clutched in his right hand while his head was supported by his left arm. His glasses were hanging haphazardly on his face. He had long since abandoned his shoes. He was also snoring lightly, Danny had to laugh at that, but he did so quietly remembering Sam who was on his right.

She was curled into a ball in the passenger seat, her knees against her chest, her arms around her knees, and her head leaning to the side on her arm. It was a particularly chilly night, which was strange since it was summer, and she was wearing an oversized jacket (his jacket, actually, she had stolen it since hers was in the trunk) she had also wrapped herself in a blanket that was left in the back seat. All that and she would still shiver every few minutes. Danny saw that and realized he had accidentally turned the AC on high. He quickly turned it down and her shivering subsided. Ever since learning to control his ice powers, the cold never really bothered Danny. Plus, for some unknown reason, he didn't mind when Sam took his jackets or t-shirts, however, it drove him crazy if anyone else did it.

He didn't want to wake his friends but his resolve to continue driving was getting weaker with each suppressed yawn. He was debating waking them up when he realized it was his fault they were so tired. None of them had been getting much sleep as of late, because of an extra amount ghost fighting going on due to more ghosts coming from the Ghost Zone. It had been getting ridiculous, which was another reason this vacation would be wonderful, it would give them all a break.

He had no right to wake them up.

Well, actually, it technically was Sam's fault they had to frequently fight ghosts. She was the one who prodded him to go into the portal, thus causing his transformation into Danny Phantom. In a way, that did give him the right to wake her up and let her drive.

This was what the small part of his mind that lived to make Danny miserable had decided to say the second he made up his mind to make the drive himself.

He quickly took that small part, put it in a box, and shoved it to remote part of his subconscious where he wouldn't have to deal with it.

He had never once blamed Sam for what had happened. It was a freak accident, he knew that, and he was thankful for his powers. The longer he had them, the more he loved them. However, he saw that look in her eyes. He could easily see the anger there whenever he got hurt. Not anger at their adversary, anger at herself. She even got that look sometimes when the bullies had picked on him at school. Knowing that she blamed herself, he could never bring himself to tell her about all that happened with Undergrowth. If she knew that she attacked him, she would never forgive herself, and he knew that. For that reason, when he got hurt, he smiled at her, his way of reassuring her that everything was okay. After a while, it stopped hurting as bad when a ghost caused him to plow into the ground, the smiles weren't hard to put on because it simply didn't hurt. And, of course, the better he got at controlling his powers, the easier it was to win his battles. He was happy; and he was grateful that putting on a smile was easy, it was all worth it to see that self-directed anger fade from her eyes.

Danny's eyes began to drift shut and he knew he needed to wake up his friends. Tucker would be hard to wake up, especially while Danny was in the front seat. He knew one surefire way to wake him, but it would involve yelling and that would wake up Sam (and possibly give her a heart attack). He didn't want to do that since he knew how much Sam hated car sleep. He knew she had to have been exhausted when he saw her pass out after an hour and a half in the car. Tucker had stayed awake with him until about an hour before when he finally conked out.

He was still fighting sleep and the urge to wake Sam and Tucker up when his salvation appeared in the form of a rest stop. He pulled in and parked the car, before stepping out to walk around and get a cup of coffee.

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><p>Sam was a light sleeper, so the second she heard the door slam, she jerked awake. She started to ask if they had arrived when she realized that Tucker was asleep, Danny wasn't in the car, and it was pitch black outside.<p>

She rubbed her eyes and pulled out her cellphone. Four forty-two A.M. flashed across the screen and she groaned. She remembered talking with Danny and Tucker and singing along to songs that came on the radio with them then she remembered stealing Danny's jacket and grabbing a blanket before curling up. That was at eleven something, and then, she realized, she must have fallen asleep.

Danny slid into the driver's seat and smiled at her, before handing her a cup of coffee. She smiled at him and gratefully accepted it.

"I realized when I got out that I slammed the door and I figured it would wake you up. I also remembered that you probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep," he explained smiling sheepishly, before she even had a chance to ask why he got her one, too.

"Well, you just know everything about me, don't you?" She asked, with a laugh. He laughed, too, before turning the key, causing the car to rumble to life.

"Are you good to drive? Do you want me to take over?" She asked with a yawn.

"No, it's fine. I've got this," he said, pointing to his coffee, "It'll keep me awake."

"Well, if you won't let me drive, at least let me stay awake with you," she mumbled, he laughed and nodded his head, appreciative of the company.

She leaned up, fiddling with the knob on the radio to find a decent station. She finally found one they both agreed on as a familiar song filled the car. Both sang along with it.

* * *

><p>"Okay, okay. So, be honest, tell me what was going through your mind when you kissed Dash?" Danny asked, with a laugh, hiding the jealousy that still burned him every time he thought about that moment.<p>

"Oh my word, _please_ let me forget that one!" She exclaimed with a laugh, "that was absolutely horrendous!"

They both laughed, they had been talking about all their memories from high school. They certainly did _not_ have a normal experience as they had to fight ghosts on a daily basis, but they certainly preferred it that way.

"Do you think everyone will be alright back in Amity? I mean, it _is_ known for ghost attacks and we _are_ usually the ones to take care of it and we _will_ be gone for a week," Sam commented.

"Okay, Sam, enough emphasis. I'm sure everyone will be fine while we were gone. Valerie is still there, so is Jazz, and my parents _are_ ghost hunters," he said, mimicking her tone. She punched his arm playfully in response.

"Alright, I get it, I'm overreacting. But, come on, when is the last time we've gone somewhere and not had to worry about ghosts attacking?"

"When we were thirteen, I believe."

"Rhetorical question." He laughed at her sarcastic remark.

"Are you still cold?" He asked.

"A little, but I'm fine," she replied. She knew for a fact that Danny and Tucker were always going to turn the AC on as high as it would go whenever they got in a car during the summertime. She would usually just bring a jacket with her and wear it until they got out. However, in her excitement and haste to meet up with the boys at Danny's house, she ripped off her pajamas and grabbed the first things she could find, which happened to be a pair of cut off shorts and a black tank top. She had already packed her jacket, too, so when she got in the car she knew she would be an ice cube before it was all over. Thankfully, Danny allowed her to steal his jacket.

"You sure you don't want me to turn the air off?" He asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"No, it's fine. Do you remember when you got ice power?" Sam asked. He laughed and nodded, wondering just how much of that little adventure _she_ remembered.

"Well, I'm glad you do, because I sure don't. What happened that day, anyway?" She asked.

"Nothing major, really. I went to Frostbite, he taught me how to control my ice power, I beat Undergrowth, and now, here we are." She nodded, accepting this explanation, and he suppressed a small sigh of relief. He was going to do his very best to keep the full situation his secret.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah, Danny?"

"Have you noticed that not one of our memories from high school _doesn't _involve fighting ghosts?"

"First, I'm pretty sure that was a double negative. And, second, I have noticed, but that's because we started fighting ghosts almost as soon as we started Freshman year."

"This is very true... but, come on. Let's try to think of at least one thing we did that did not involve ghosts." Danny said, exasperatedly.

There was a long pause.

"What about prom?" Sam asked, finally.

"Oh yeah, that was a fun night," Danny said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you, me, and Tuck. We went to prom for a grand total of twenty-five minutes before we ditched out and went to play in the park," Sam replied, smiling.

"Well, the music was lame, the dance was boring, and everyone knew that Paulina and Dash were gonna be king and queen, so why stick around?"

"Plus, Paulina _accidentally_ spilled punch all over my dress, then stepped on the bottom so it would rip," Sam grumbled, bitterly.

"She's so shallow, I mean, who stoops that low?" Danny asked, with a laugh.

"I'm glad you came to your senses about her, Danny." Sam said.

"Come on, Sam, give me some credit. You know I snapped out of it at the end of ninth grade," Danny said, smugly.

Sam laughed before responding. "Alright, it's your turn. You think of a memory without ghosts."

"What about our senior trip?" He asked.

"Danny, we didn't go on our senior trip. Remember? My parents were out of town so we all stayed at my place for the week," she replied, confusedly.

"Exactly. Instead of spending a week with our classmates, who, by the way, hated us, the three of us got to spend a week together in an empty mansion doing whatever we wanted."

"Good point. Do you remember taking the sleeping bags from the closet and sliding down the staircase?"

"How could I forget? Tucker hit the wall face-first!" Danny and Sam burst into laughter and continued to talk about everything they did that week.

"What about when we built that huge fort in the basement?"

"Yeah! Or when we played 'the floor is lava' for three hours!"

"What about that day it was raining, so we got towels and lamps and put on our swimsuits and pretended we were on the beach," Sam said, laughing at all the memories.

"We're pretty creative, now that I think about it."

They continued on for a while, still talking about ghost-free memories.

"As much as I love my powers, it's nice to be normal sometimes," Danny said, without thinking. He bit his tongue as soon as the words were out of his mouth, already kicking himself for his thoughtless statement.

It was enough for Sam to become wracked with guilt. She had to look away, since she felt like if she so much as looked at Danny, she would begin to bawl. She felt selfish, but she had always blamed herself. Every time he got hurt, it felt like she was hurt, too. Whenever Danny said something about wanted to be normal, it felt like a sucker punch in the stomach.

"Sam, look at me," Danny commanded, partly keeping his eyes on her, and partly keeping them on the road.

She shifted her head, but still would not meet his gaze.

"Sam, don't you ever blame yourself. Not for a second. I love my powers, they make me special. They make me unique. All you did was give me the courage to do what I wouldn't have done on my own. I'm thankful for my powers! They make me a hero!" He exclaimed.

"But, it's my fault you can't be normal. I took that away from you," she said, looking up at him, her eyes shining with tears that were building up but refusing to spill over.

In an act of courage, he reached over and grabbed her hand.

"I've seen the way you get mad at yourself over this, but if I didn't _want_ my powers, I wouldn't use them. I would have been searching for something to get rid of them this whole time. But, I do want them, so I _choose_ to keep them. Don't ever forget that, and don't ever blame yourself again, okay?"

She nodded, rubbing at her eyes furiously. He smiled and let her hand go.

"Hey, look, we must have been talking for a while, the sun is already up. I didn't even notice!" Danny said, trying to get Sam's mind off of their previous conversation.

"Oh, wow, it is," Sam said, well aware of what Danny was doing, but thankful for the distraction, nevertheless.

"Hey, what time is it?" He asked.

"Seven-twenty," she replied.

"Four hours and forty minutes to go."

"Better make it five hours, Danny, we need to stop at a gas station. We're running on empty," Sam said, pointing at the dashboard.

"Oh yeah, well, that sign a few miles back said there's one up ahead. We'll stop there," he replied.

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><p>Danny was standing out by the car, pumping the gas. Sam had handed him her card before walking inside.<p>

He was thankful she had stayed awake with him. As soon as they started talking, he was more awake than when they started to make the drive.

Sam came back a few minutes later with two bags full of snacks and drinks for the rest of the ride and two more cups of coffee in her hands.

They got back in the car and Sam tossed Danny a bottle of Coke and bag of gummy worms. He nodded his thanks and accepted the coffee in her outstretched hand. Sam took a huge sip of her own coffee and then shouted at the pain from her burning tongue. Danny laughed before handing her a bottle of water. She gave him a thankful look before swallowing as much water as she could.

Sam pulled out a bag of Skittles from the plastic bag by her foot and glared at it. Danny knew Sam loved Skittles, but they weren't her favorite candy and therefore, they weren't what she wanted. He also knew the only place to find her favorite candy was back in Amity Park.

"Hey, Sam, you don't have to kill the Skittles, just take these instead," he said, nonchalantly handing her a bag of a gummy bats.

She looked up at him, confusedly.

"I, uh, bought enough to last you the week, and maybe more. You know, just in case you get homesick or something," he mumbled. She smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks, D!"

"No problem, Sammy."

As much Sam hated that nickname, sometimes when she and Danny would let their guards down, she didn't mind when he called her that. It was in those moments that they could acknowledge their feelings for each other. But, all too soon, something would come up, and they would go back to being themselves and pretended whatever had happened had just been make believe.

This time, the interruption came in the form of Tucker, snoring loudly. They both laughed.

"I had almost forgotten he was back there," Sam commented.

"Me too," Danny said with a laugh, "Well, ready to hit the road?"

She nodded, before tearing into the bag of the gummy bats and turning on the radio again.

* * *

><p>"How much longer?"<p>

"Approximately two hours, forty-five minutes," Sam said, glancing at the clock on the radio.

"Great, I am so ready to be on that beach," Danny replied.

"You sure you aren't just ready to flirt with girls in bikinis?" Sam asked playfully, secretly hoping his answer would be something along the lines of 'No way, Sam, I want to spend the whole week with you.'

"No way, Sam, I want to spend the whole week with you and Tucker." Well, he got the first part right.

Sam suddenly felt selfish, the three of them were spending this week together because they were best friends and they were about to embark on a great adventure: college.

Their parents didn't know exactly how much trouble the three had gone to to get into the same college, but they didn't care how hard it was. They refused to be separated and it had been that way for as long as they could remember.

"You just remember that, Fenton, when a pretty girl walks by," Sam said, jokingly.

Danny knew he wouldn't have a problem keeping his eyes off of other girls, not if Sam was going to be there with him.

"Hey, Danny, how long has Tucker been asleep?" Sam asked, suddenly.

"He passed out around three AM," Danny replied.

"Wow. What time did I fall asleep?"

"About eleven-thirty," he said, absently.

"Why didn't you wake me up and let me take a shift?" She asked.

"The ghosts have been going crazy lately. I figured that you guys deserved a break," he responded.

"Daniel Fenton, sometimes, I swear, you are too kind for your own good." He laughed.

"Well, I _am _the hero, Samantha. And, by the way, the same could be said about you."

"Oh whatever, Danny," she replied.

"I've seen you put an animal's safety before your own on several occasions. You've stuck up for me and Tucker more than anyone has ever stuck up for you. You've forgiven me every time I've been a jerk to you. Face it, Sam, you're way more kind than you give yourself credit for."

Sam turned red at the massive compliment from Danny. She didn't know what was going on with Danny that morning, but she hoped he kept it up.

* * *

><p>"Thirty minutes," Sam said, excitedly.<p>

"Finally! When we go back to Amity Park, we're taking shifts," Danny said with a laugh.

"Yeah, you said that last night about the ride here, but you refused to let me or Tucker drive."

"Good point."

There was a long pause in the car. It might have been a comfortable silence, except for the fact that things desperately needing to be discussed hung in the air.

They both started to speak at the exact same time.

"Danny-"

"Sam-"

Another pause, this one much shorter.

"You go first," Danny said.

"I was just gonna say that it's really scary, thinking we'll be going to college soon. We're all grown up, but it didn't really feel that way until now." Sam started.

"I know what you mean, I was thinking about that, too. Listen, Sam, we've been kind of tiptoing around this since we were thirteen," Danny said.

"What do you mean? tiptoing around what?" She asked.

"Come on, Sam. You know what I'm talking about. We've liked each other since junior high. We've known it for a while, well, to be fair, you knew way before I did. I stayed clueless until the end of Freshman year. Either way, we've known, we've just been scared. Honestly, I'd probably still be way too scared to say this if I wasn't so tired that I don't really know if I could have stopped myself from saying it." Danny said, with a sigh of relief at the massive weight lifted from his chest.

"You know, Danny, it's funny that you said it. I was going to say it, too. I'm sick of waiting around for something to happen, it's about time we did something about it." Sam said, with a huge grin.

In the midst of their conversation, Danny hadn't noticed that they had pulled up to their beach house and he was about to park the vehicle that very second.

He did so, before turning and kissing Sam. He was happy to find her kissing back.

"It's about time you two got together. I've been waiting since we were fourteen," Tucker said, as he looked at them. It was clear he had just woken up.

They looked at each other and laughed. Tucker laughed, too. And for some reason, they couldn't stop. It was one of those moments when something sort of funny happens, but then it turns into something so ridiculously hilarious that no one can stop laughing.

That went on for a good ten minutes before Sam finally calmed down enough to speak.

"Come on, guys, let's get our stuff into the house," she said, opening her car door. The boys followed her lead.

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><p>Once they had unloaded the car and each chosen a bedroom in the rather large house, they met back up in the living room.<p>

"So, are you guys ready to hit the beach?" Tucker asked.

"Actually, Tuck, I think I'm gonna go get some sleep," Danny replied.

"Me too, sorry, Tuck. Hey, why don't you go to the beach and when you get back, it'll be dark and we can all go out to eat. Then after, we'll all go for a walk on the beach, there won't be many people at night, anyway." Sam said.

"Good idea, Sam," Tucker replied, "Alright, you two lovebirds catch up on your sleep. I'll see you tonight."

They waved to Tucker as he walked out the door, not even bothering to yell 'we're not lovebirds!' as it was now true.

Once he was gone, Danny turned to Sam and kissed her again.

She laughed when they broke away.

"Go get some sleep, hero, you've earned it." He nodded and walked to his room, turning back once he was by the door to make sure she was doing the same.

He walked up to the bed and collapsed on top of it.

His last conscious thought before completely passing out was _best car ride ever._

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><p>Well, I hope it turned out okay. I liked it, hopefully everyone who read it did, too. I love Danny and Sam, they make such a cute couple!<p> 


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